Digimon: The Twilight Empress
by Count Morningstar
Summary: Sequel to Child of Hope and Light and Sakura Knight. While taking a trip to the Digital World with T.K. and Kari, Norn ends up meeting a girl named Nene. The two girls quickly hit it off, but when Norn takes Nene to meet her parents, Nene summons a sinister Digimon to attack them. When the battle ends, Norn is unable to tell if Nene is a friend or a dangerous enemy.
1. The Dark Knight Strikes

**Introduction:** I really don't know how many people are actually going to read this story. This story is an update to the series of Digimon fanfics that I started years ago when I first made an account on this site, and I've only just recently decided to continue working on it again. In fact the last story in the series had been on hiatus for over a year due to personal issues. Still, with the Digimon franchise having a bit of a comeback thanks to _Digimon Tri_ , I've decided to start this series back up again and see what happens. So to those who may be a bit unfamiliar with my previous Digimon stories, there will be a bit of a recap in this first chapter. But I highly recommend going back to at least read my previous two Digimon stories, Child of Hope and Light and Sakura Knight to completely understand what's going on. Of course if there are those among you reading who are familiar with the previous stories in this series, I gladly welcome you back

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

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Chapter 1: The Dark Knight Strikes

It was around noon as Kari Takaishi spread out a picnic blanket on a field by a lake in this Digital World. Sitting at the lake's edge looking into the water as though trying to catch a fish was Kari's Digimon partner, a large white cat with yellow gloves on her front paws and a purple stripped tail with a gold ring on it known as Gatomon. With the blanket spread out, Kari looked towards the tall tree that was growing by the spot. Sitting under the tree reading a book was a girl who appeared to be about twelve years old. She had shoulder-length blonde hair and brown eyes, and her outfit consisted of a white t-shirt with a pink jacket and a tan skirt with pink shoes. The girl in question was Kari's daughter, Norn. The picnic they were on was Norn's first trip into the Digital World, and Kari was happy that so far the trip was going smoothly.

Kari was not a person who anyone would expect to have a twelve-year-old daughter. She was still in her twenties and only just finishing college, and though she was by no means a virgin she had never once in her life had given birth. Yet Norn was the daughter that Kari shared with her young husband, T.K. And though on paper Norn had simply been adopted, she still carried hers and T.K.'s blood. The reason for all this was because Norn's birth was far from being a normal one. Norn was the creation of a man named Neo Saiba, made using digital copies of Kari and T.K.'s DNA and a fragment of the core from the Digital World's dead protector god, Yggdrasill. In addition to being an artificial human, Norn was also Yggdrasill's reincarnation, gifted with special powers and the knowledge and memories of the dead god. Yet despite the strange way that Norn had come into the world, Kari and T.K. still considered her their child.

As Norn turned to the next page in her book, two small Digimon ran up to her. One was a small yellow tyrannosaurus-like creature with green eyes and crisscrossing red straps around the wrists of his well-developed arms. The other was a bipedal blue and white dog with yellow eyes, wearing a red headband and a pair of red boxing gloves. These two creatures were Norn's Digimon partners. The yellow dinosaur as an Agumon simply called Agu, and the dog was a Gaomon referred to as Gao. Agu and Gao were artificial Digimon who were created at the same time as Norn and had somehow become bonded to her.

"Hey Norn! Gao and I just found some old factory or something in that forest by the lake." Agu informed the blonde, causing her to look up from her book. "We don't know what it was used for, but it has some cool-looking stuff in it."

"We checked, and there didn't seem to be any enemies hiding in it." Gao interjected. "You wanna go take a look?"

"Mom, may I go explore that factory with Agu and Gao?" Norn requested.

"Well… okay." Kari agreed. "But you be careful, and don't be gone for too long. Your dad should be here soon with Ken and Yolei."

"Thank you." Norn responded as she put down her book. "We'll try not to be too."

With that, Agu and Gao led Norn off towards the forest where the abandoned building was supposed to be. Kari kept an eye on the three as they rushed off.

"Hey Gatomon, you think it's okay to let Norn go off like that?" Kari asked.

"She'll be fine." Gatomon answered, not once taking her eyes off the water's surface. "Agu and Gao may be idiots most of the time, but they're really good at protecting Norn. Besides, the Digital World is fairly peaceful these days."

"That's true." Kari admitted. "Guess I'm just being a little overprotective."

Suddenly the surface of the lake rippled slightly and Gatomon immediately pounced on the spot. Whatever had disturbed the water had escaped the feline's grasp though, causing Gatomon to grumble something under her breath.

Kari chuckled at the sight. "You know, I did pack some tuna sandwiches for you in the basket."

"I know, but nothing really beats free range." Gatomon replied.

Suddenly the screen of a computer that was embedded in the side of the tree Norn had been reading under turned on and projected a beam of light. Walking out of the light was a young man with blonde hair and green eyes, wearing a black t-shirt with the name of a band written in white letter on the front and a pair of grey jeans. Perched on top of the young man's head was an orange mammal with an almost hamster-like body, large blue eyes and a pair of large bat-like wings where ears would normally be placed. The young man was Kari's husband, T.K. And the creature riding atop his head was T.K.'s Digimon, Patamon.

"Hi." T.K. spoke as Patamon flew off his head and went to where Gatomon was. "Sorry we're a little late. Where's Norn?"

"She off somewhere exploring with Agu and Gao." Kari answered. "Where are Ken and Yolei?"

"They should be along at any moment now." The blonde answered.

As if on cue, the tree computer projected another beam of light. Walking out of it was another young man with slightly long straight dark hair, wearing a grey t-shirt with a black vest and black jeans. Perched on the young man's shoulder was a green larva-like creature with large blue eyes, black mandibles and a pair of long feelers. The young man was Kari and T.K.'s fellow Digidestined, Ken Ichijouji. The insect that was riding on his shoulders was Ken's Digimon, Wormmon.

Following Ken and Wormmon out of the beam of light was a young woman with long plum-colored hair that went half way down her back wearing a pair of large brown glasses, along with a white short-sleeved shirt with buttons and a short lavender skirt. Walking at the young woman's side was a hawk-like Digimon with a large white head and a brown body. Around the bird's head was a back leather headband that had a silver buckle and a yellow feather with a red tip. The young woman was Ken's wife, Yolei, and the bird was Yolei's Digimon, Hawkmon.

"Hey there, you two." Kari greeted.

"Now that the newlyweds are here, I guess we should get started." T.K. decided. "Except we're now missing Norn."

"Where'd she go?" Yolei asked.

"She went off towards the forest with Agu and Gao." Kari answered. "Guess I should've told them to wait until after the picnic to go off like that."

"I'll go find them and tell them it's time to eat." Hawkmon decided, and with that the little bird Digimon flew off.

"I still can't believe that you and Ken are married now." Kari spoke as she and the others sat down on the blanket. "Whatever happened to waiting until after college?"

"You guys were kind of the reason why decided to go ahead and get married." Ken revealed.

"Yeah. You two seemed to have the right idea by getting married before that fight with Lucemon." Yolei told the couple. "Life is short, and with CountMyotismon lurking around out there with his new friend, Bagramon, who knows what could happen? So Ken and I thought we'd go ahead and seize the day. You know… in case the worst happened."

Kari frowned a bit at the dark topic that Yolei had brought up. Only three and a half months ago, the Digidestined's most powerful enemy, Myotismon returned from the dead in the form of the powerful CountMyotismon. By a twisted irony, CountMyotismon was the reason Norn even existed, as he had manipulated Neo Saiba into creating her so he could take Yggdrasill's power from her and get revenge on Kari and T.K. at the same time by killing their only child in front of them. Fortunately the vampire lord's plan had backfired, as Norn's body seemed to be pure poison to him. Not long after that incident, CountMyotismon had gone to the alternate version of Earth that was home to the Digimon Tamers. There, he teamed up with another evil and powerful Digimon called Bagramon for reasons that were unknown. The evil duo was still at large after T.K. and Kari had helped the Tamers fight them in their world.

"So when do you guys plan on having a honeymoon?" T.K. asked.

"We haven't quite figured that out yet." Ken answered. "It'll probably be once classes finally settle down again, assuming we figure out where we want to go for it of course."

"Good luck with that." Kari told them.

"So Ken mentioned that you and T.K. are going to be sending Norn to school soon." Yolei recalled, changing the subject. "Have you decided what school she's going to attend?"

"Just about. We're thinking it'll be a fairly normal school." T.K. answered.

"I'm not really sure that Norn needs school though." Ken interjected. "Izzy mentioned to me that Norn scored really high on that I.Q. test he gave her. He even said something about Norn being smart enough to at least attend an Ivy League college in America."

"Why not send her to one of those special schools for the gifted?" Yolei suggested.

"We thought about that, but those schools are pretty expensive." Kari pointed out. "Besides, T.K. and I think it would be good for Norn to be around kids her own age. Well… kids who're the same age as she is, physically."

"Good point." Yolei agreed. "Everything's still pretty new to Norn, so it'd be good for her to make friends with kids who're, well… more normal."

"Yeah. I just hope she doesn't have too much trouble fitting in with other kids." Kari told them.

"Relax. I'm sure Norn won't have any trouble making friends." T.K. assured her as he put an arm around her. "After all, she certainly isn't shy."

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Norn followed Agu and Gao until they at last came to a small square building made of crumbling stone. Attached to the building's side was a large garage with a metal door, and the few windows on the building's side, which were towards the top, were broken.

"You said that this was some sort of factory?" Norn asked the two.

"Yeah, but we've got no clue what they made here." Gao answered.

"I'm hoping they made food." Agu declared.

"If you were that hungry, we should've just stayed at the picnic area, you dumb lizard." Gao told him.

Just as Norn was about to head for the building's open door, a figure suddenly stepped out of it. The figure was a human girl who appeared to be about twelve or thirteen. She was tall for her age and had fair skin long brown hair that was tied up at the top by a yellow hairclip, making it look almost as if she had rabbit ears that dangled down on each side of her head. Her outfit consisted of a very light lavender jacket over a purple dress and a pair of off-white cowboy boots with pink trim at the top.

Curious and seeing no danger, Norn walked up to the girl. "Hello."

"Oh, hi." The girl responded upon noticing the blonde. "I wasn't expecting to see another human kid here."

"Nor was I." Norn replied as she gave her a bow. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Norn Takaishi. Might I ask what your name is?"

"I'm Nene." The girl answered. "Nene Amano." She then noticed Agu and Gao standing behind Norn. "Are those two Digimon yours?"

"Why yes." Norn confirmed. "These are my two partners."

"Hi. I'm an Agumon, but you can just call me Agu." The yellow dinosaur greeted.

"And I'm a Gaomon, but I usually go by Gao." The blue dog added.

"Agu and Gao, huh?" Nene repeated. "Cute nicknames. Did you come up with them, Norn?"

"Inadvertently, yes." Norn confirmed. "I actually had some difficulty saying their full names when I first met them. It's a long story. Do you have a Digimon companion Nene?"

"I do, actually." Nene answered. "He's not around right now though. But if you like, I can call him here to meet you."

Before Norn could answer, Hawkmon landed near were she and the others were standing. "There you are, Norn. The others are ready to have the picnic. You should head back now."

"Oh! We'll be right there." Norn told him. "Nene, would you like to join us? I'm sure my parents would be happy to have you eat with us."

"You're here with your family?" Nene asked.

Norn nodded. "And some friends of my parents. Would you like to meet them?"

"Um… sure. Why not?" Nene finally agreed.

With that, Hawkmon flew off and Norn and the others followed them from the ground. Within a few short moments, Norn's group arrived back at the picnic site.

"I apologize for keeping you all waiting." Norn told them.

"It's fine, Norn." T.K. assured her. "Looks like you brought back a friend."

"This is Nene. I met her at the building Agu and Gao took me to." Norn explained. "I hope you don't mind inviting her along."

"It's nice meeting all of you." Nene told them with a bow. "I hope I'm not intruding or anything."

"Not at all. It's not every day that Norn brings a friend back with her." Kari replied. "Come on and join us."

With that, the group sat down on the blanket as Kari began passing out the food. The conversation during the meal had been quite light, though Nene had hardly said a word. In less than half an hour, the picnic basket had been emptied.

"So Nene, did you come to the Digital World alone?" Ken asked.

"…I did come here with someone originally, but… right now it's just me." Nene answered.

"You did you get separated or something?" Yolei asked with a look of concern.

"No. I know where she is." Nene answered. "It's… complicated."

"Well you must be a Digidestined if you're here in the Digital World." Patamon assumed. "Of course I don't see a Digimon with you."

"Oh! That's right, Nene. You said that you could call your partner here to meet us." Norn recalled. "Why don't you do that now?"

Nene's lips curved into a smirk. "Okay. I guess it is time for you to meet him."

From inside her jacket, Nene produced a fairly large rectangular digivice that was primarily black in color. It had a small square screen in the middle, and much of the top part was silver and resembled a microphone. Nene pressed a button on the device, and suddenly a large swirling black vortex opened up behind her. T.K. and the rest of the older Digidestined immediately got to their feet when something large began to step out of it. In moments the group saw the creature that Nene had claimed was her Digimon partner.

The creature in question was a very large and imposing knight clad in black and silver armor. The knight's helmet gold with two short gold curled horns on the side and a silver faceplate. Hanging from his back was a long tattered black cape with a dark-blue underside, and the silver armor on his chest was fashioned to look like the face of a skull with a large piece of gold armor shaped almost like a lightning bolt on the skull's brow. On the knight's right shoulder was a large black axe blade, and in his right hand he carried a staff with a large red lance on each end. The tips of the knight's metal boots were adorned with pointed gold blades.

"What a lovely little setting this is." The knight spoke. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am DarkKnightmon."

"Hey Norn. Something about this Digimon doesn't sit right." Agu told her as he glared up at DarkKnightmon.

"Yeah. This guy smells rotten to me." Gao agreed.

"For once, I agree with Agu and the fleabag." Gatomon spoke. "Whoever this Digimon is, he's dangerous."

"Nene… is this Digimon really your partner?" Norn asked.

"In a matter of speaking, yes." DarkKnightmon answered. "We are currently coconspirators. You did a good job, Nene. At last I'm meeting Yggdrasill's reincarnation face to face. I never imagined that the great god would ever return in the form of such a weak little girl."

"How do you know that about Norn?" T.K. demanded to know.

"We meet once briefly in her former life." DarkKnightmon answered. "Though I doubt she recognizes me. It was so long ago, and I've no doubt changed much since that encounter."

"You… you do seem a little familiar to me." Norn admitted. "What do you want?"

DarkKnightmon chuckled. "What do I want, you ask? There are many things that I want, Yggdrasill, power being chiefly among them. But for the moment I wish to test your powers in battle. I challenge you to a duel, Yggdrasill! Face me, or I shall annihilate your little family right here and now!"

"Nene, you… you really don't want to fight me. Do you?" Norn asked.

"Like DarkKnightmon said, we either fight or your family dies." Nene answered with a cruel smirk. "Now let's do this!"

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Please review and let me know what you think.


	2. Barbarian

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon. If I did, Xros Wars wouldn't have had a totally redesigned MetalGreymon, Cyberdramon and Beelzemon.

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Chapter 2: Barbarian

"Nene! Just why exactly are you working with DarkKnightmon?" Ken asked. "He obviously isn't your partner Digimon, so what's the deal?"

"Nene does not need to explain herself to the likes of you." DarkKnightmon told him. "Just know that I am helping to grant her dearest wish."

"And just how is attacking Norn going to help grant this wish of hers?" Yolei demanded to know.

"That's none of your business." Nene told them. "Let's just say that I'm interested in seeing what Norn's capable of just like DarkKnightmon."

"Nene. I don't understand." Norn told her. "I thought… I thought you and I had become friends."

Nene chuckled. "You really are dumb, aren't you? Guess that just proves what they say about blondes."

"Enough of this! It is time for us to meet on the field of battle!" DarkKnightmon declared.

"I don't know what you two are up to, but there's no way we're going to let you come after Norn!" T.K. declared. "Patamon!"

"Ready!" the mammal Digimon replied.

"Let's do it, Gatomon!" Kari told her.

"Right!" the white feline responded.

With that, T.K. and Kari's D-3s began to crackle with electricity and gave off the mechanical cry of one word.

"BIOMERGE!"

T.K. and Kari turned into balls of gold and pink light and entered their respective Digimon partners. Both Digimon began to glow as they transformed.

"Patamon, biomerge digivolve to… Seraphimon!" Patamon cried, his voice changing as he spoke his other name.

"Gatomon, biomerge digivolve to… Ophanimon!" Gatomon cried, her voice changing with the utterance of her other name.

The lights faded and Patamon had changed into a humanoid figure completely clad in shining silver armor. His face was completely covered by a helmet with a gold cross on the front, a pair of gold wings on the sides, and a gold blade on top that somewhat resembled a Mohawk. A gold breechcloth with words written in the language of the Digital World upon it hung down in front of his legs. On his back were ten gold wings that shined with a brilliant light.

Gatomon meanwhile had become a woman clad in blue-green and silver armor similar to Seraphimon's. Her helmet had the same golden cross on the front as Seraphimon's and revealed her mouth and her long flowing strawberry blond hair. The front part of the armor revealed Ophanimon's bare stomach, and instead of normal leg armor she had a white shimmering skirt that was covered in the regular blue-green armor above the knees. On her feet she wore elegant high-heeled shoes the same color as her armor, and on her back were eight shining golden wings. In her right hand, Ophonimon carried an ornate golden javelin, and in her left hand a shield with a golden horse head emblazoned on the front.

"Hawkmon! You get in there and help too!" Yolei commanded.

"On it!" Hawkmon replied as he flew into the air, and with that his body began to glow with a red light. "Hawkmon, digivolve to… Aquillamon!"

In seconds, Hawkmon had become a large brown bird of prey with a brown body and a white head with large black horns. His feet had a pair of large blue talons.

"You help too, Wormmon!" Ken ordered.

"Right!" the larva Digimon responded before glowing with a green light. "Wormmon, digivolve to… Stingmon!"

Wormon rose into the air and transformed into a giant dark-green and black humanoid insect with red eyes and a main of dark-brown hair growing out of the back of his head. A pair of grey stingers protruded from the top of his wrists, and on his back he had two pairs of transparent wings.

"We better be careful." Seraphimon told the others. "We don't know what DarkKnightmon's level is or what sort of powers he has."

"I told you all that I came here to fight Yggdrasill, not the four of you." DarkKnightmon reminded them. "Fortunately I had a feeling this might happen, so I arranged a little something to keep you occupied."

With that, the dark knight snapped his fingers and a massive dark vortex appeared behind him and Nene. From within the vortex, Norn and the others could hear the loud footsteps of something very massive approaching from the other side. Emerging from the portal was a gigantic green humanoid figure resembling an ogre. The creature was over fifteen feet tall and had green skin and long straight white hair. The top half of the monster's face was covered by a bone-like mask with two sets of long wavy horns with red stripes. It had red lines marking its chest and arms, and covering his shoulders were two very large dark-green skulls that each had a single horn on the forehead. On his wrists were pieces of armor covered in brown fur. In his right hand, the giant held a massive sword of bone that was as tall as his body. The handle of the sword was fashioned from the skull of a strange dinosaur with a horn on its forehead, and the end of the blade gave off a noxious black mist.

"What the hell is that?" Yolei asked.

"Allow me to introduce my associate, Titamon." DarkKnightmon responded. "Before Yggdrasill's time, this brute rampaged through the Digital World before being sealed away by ENIAC. I released him so that Nene and I may achieve our goals."

"DarkKnightmon." The ogre spoke in a deep voice. "Titamon want crush puny Digimon and humans."

"Of course, my friend." DarkKnightmon told him. "Just remember to leave the little girl and her two pets to me."

"Fine with Titamon." The giant agreed as he raised his massive sword. "Titamon okay with killing other six."

"If that thing swings its sword here, Norn and the others could get hurt!" Ophanimon realized.

"We've got no choice! Scatter!" Stingmon told the others.

The four Digimon quickly flew off to the left and scattered. Titamon turned on his foot to get at them, swinging his massive blade as he moved. Seraphimon and the others easily dodged the giant's swing.

"Well Yggdrasill, it's just us now." DarkKnightmon told Norn. "Are you just going to stand over there cowering, or are you going to send those two servants of yours out to face me?"

"C'mon Norn! Let us at that jerk!" Agu requested.

"The sooner we deal with this guy, the sooner we can help your mom and dad fight that giant." Gao pointed out.

"…Very well." Norn finally agreed sadly. "I guess we have no choice. Agu. Gao. Take him down!"

"Piece of cake!" Agu assured her.

"We're on it!" Gao replied, and with that he and Agu became enveloped in pillars of blue and orange light.

"Agumon warp digivolve to… VictoryGreymon!" Agu called out as he transformed, his voice changing with the sound of his other name.

The orange light around Agu faded to reveal him in the form of a humanoid dragon with orange skin and a head covered in silver and black armor. Extending from the horn on the tip of his snout was a pair of golden blades that went back to form a pair of horns that formed a V shape. His torso was clad in silver and gold armor, and on his back were two golden panels or armor that resembled wings. With one of his muscular arms, he carried a massive sword with three blades.

"Gaomon warp digivolve to… ZeedGarurumon!" Gao called out as he transformed, his voice changing with the utterance of his other name.

The blue light that had enveloped Gao faded to reveal a large mechanical wolf with mostly blue armor. He had a green nose and claws, and on his back was a massive black cannon. At the end of his grey cable-like tail was another smaller cannon, and attached to the shoulders of his front legs were what looked like small missile launchers.

"So these are the two artificial Digimon enhanced by human science." DarkKnightmon observed. "Impressive."

Agu threw his three-bladed sword into the air, causing it to split into two pieces. The crossgard and handle of the sword went into the armor on the dragon warrior's left wrist, while the blades became mounted in the armor on Agu's right wrist.

The sword blades began to crackle with orange electricity as he thrust them at DarkKnightmon. "Trident Gaia!"

A ball of orange energy shot from the blades at DarkKnigtmon, only for the wicked knight to knock the projectile away with the double-ended spear he carried in his right hand. Gao retaliated by firing all the weapons installed in his body. DarkKnightmon raised his spear forward and began spinning it, causing a black vortex to form in front of it and suck in the barrage like a black hole.

"What a disappointing performance." DarkKnightmon declared. "But then I suppose I should've expected as much. After all, the two of you are merely young whelps like your master is now. There's no way you can compete with a seasoned warrior like me."

Meanwhile, Seraphimon fired a cluster of seven gold fireballs at Titamon, hitting the ogre in the chest. Titamon retaliated by raising his sword to cut the angel in half, but Seraphimon quickly flew back just before the sword of bone could come down on him. Ophanimon then moved in front of Seraphimon and fired a beam of gold light from her javelin. The attack hit Titamon in the stomach and caused him to stumble back slightly. Suddenly black shapes began to fly from the skulls on Titamon's arms and formed into a group of ten shadowy beings with skeletal bodies. Each creature carried a sword of its own and their skulls resembled the ones covering their creator's shoulders.

The skeletal entities charged at the four with their swords ready. Aquillamon opened his beak and fired a ring of red energy at one of the skeletons, causing it to break apart into a shadowy mist. Stingmon meanwhile flew at another one of the skeletons, and after evading the swing of its sword stabbed it in the skull with the blade he extended from his wrist. The skeleton warrior shattered into black mist like the one Aquillamon had destroyed. Seraphimon and Ophanimon quickly took care of the remaining skeletons, but Titiamon quickly replaced them with ten more.

"This is going to be endless!" Stingmon declared.

"That giant may not be very bright, but it looks like he was smart enough to figure out we're to fast for his normal attacks to hit us." Aquillamon deduced. "Now he's going to try coming at us with those soldiers of his."

"On the bright side, it looks like Titamon's soldiers are pretty easy to take out." Seraphimon noted. "Stingmon, you and Aquillamon focus on those skeletons. Ophanimon and I will deal with Tiamon personally."

"Worth a shot!" Stingmon agreed.

Meanwhile, Agu had since put his sword back together and charged at DarkKnightmon with the blades as a lance. The evil knight sidestepped the attack and struck Agu in his right arm. Gao then fired a round from the cannon on his back, only for DarkKnightmon to deflect it with the axe blade hanging from his left shoulder. With the knight's attention on Gao, Agu recovered from the blow he had received and swung down his blade on DarkKnightmon's back, finally landing his first blow. DarkKnightmon turned to counterattack, only for Gao to fire another barrage that hit the knight in the same spot that Agu had just struck.

"Well, it seems you're a little bit better than I first thought." DarkKnightmon praised. "Though inexperienced, the two of you seem to make a good team."

"It would be kinda dull if you were able to finish them off easily." Nene remarked.

"That's enough, Nene!" Ken interrupted. "I don't know what this wish of yours is, but working with an evil Digimon like DarkKnightmon isn't the way to get it! Trust me!"

"You have no idea what the hell you're talking about." Nene coldly told him. "I don't know who you are, but mind your own business."

"Hey Norn! This guy isn't gonna go down easy." Agu told her. "I think we have to step it up a notch."

"Well… if you think it's the only way, then so be it." Norn agreed. "Agu. Gao. Lend me your power."

"Whatever you say, Norn." Gao responded.

"Let's bust this knight's skull!" Agu told her.

"I regret having to do this, Nene." Norn spoke as she closed her eyes. "DigiXros!"

Norn's body suddenly began to glow with a blinding white light and change shape. Agu and Gao turned into balls of orange and blue light and shot up into the air. Within seconds, Norn's silhouette took the shape of a young woman in her early twenties. The ball of blue light that was Gao came down and struck Norn's right shoulder, changing into a piece of armor resembling ZeedGarurumon's head. Norn's right arm became covered in blue futuristic armor with a pair of black cannon barrels mounted on the forearm. Meanwhile, the orange ball of light that was Agu hit Norn's left shoulder and became a piece of armor that looked like VictoryGreymon's head. Her left arm became covered in futuristic gold armor with a retractable sword blade on the forearm.

The rest of Norn's body became covered in white and silver armor. On the front of the breastplate was a crest that looked like a star with a ray of light shining beneath it. Appearing on a piece of the armor that was like a belt buckle was a white-inverted triangle with three smaller triangles surrounding it. Covering Norn's head was a white helmet that had a gold star on the front similar to the star on Seraphimon and Ophanimon's helmets. On her face she had a golden faceplate and a blue transparent visor over her eyes. Her blonde hair grew longer and spilled out from underneath her helmet.

"DigiXros, complete." Norn spoke. "Norn X3!"

"So what we heard was true. You can use DigiXros too." Nene observed. "Kinda cool the way you're able to combine with Agu and Gao like that."

"Wait! You know about the power of DigiXros too?" Norn asked.

"Nene, I think the time has come for you to show her your power." DarkKnightmon suggested.

"Good idea." Nene agreed as she raised the odd digivice she carried. "DarkKnightmon! Titamon! DigiXros!"

Suddenly the group of skeletons that Stingmon and Aquillamon were fighting turned into black mist and Titamon changed into a ball of green light. The light flew across the battlefield and hit DarkKnightmon, triggering a startling transformation. The wicked knight grew to Titamon's size and had gained Titamon's arms and legs. The skulls that had been covering the giant's shoulders had turned silver and the lances that had been on the ends of DarkKnightmon's spear had replaced their original horns. The axe blade that had once been hanging from the knight's left shoulder had become attached to the back of Titamon's sword. Titamon's original horns grew from DarkKnightmon's helmet, and the giant's long white hair spilled out from underneath. The eyes of the silver skull adorning the now giant knight's chest glowed with a primal red light.

"So wait, Nene can also use that DigiXros power that Norn has?" a stunned Yolei realized.

"This form of DarkKnightmon is called DarkKnightmon Barbarian Mode." Nene introduced. "Not bad, huh?"

"In this form, Titamon's strength is added to my own." DarkKnightmon added. "There's no way you fools can overcome me now!"

"We shall see about that!" Norn declared as she raised her right arm towards the knight and extended the cannon barrels on her armor. "Zeed Cannon Blitz!"

Norn fired a barrage of energy bullets that struck DarkKnightmon in the chest. The attack failed to even leave a scratch on the giant knight's armor. Seraphimon and Ophanimon quickly flew to Norn's side with Stingmon and Aquillamon.

DarkKnightmon raised his massive sword. "Taste the sting of defeat! Treason Zangetsuha!"

The giant knight swung down his sword and sent a massive shadowy blade at Norn and the others. Norn X3 was knocked to the ground and split back into Norn, Agu and Gao. Agu and Gao quickly regressed back to their rookie forms only a split second later. Seraphimon and Ophanimon meanwhile hit the ground and split back into the respective pairs of T.K. and Patamon, and Kari and Gatomon. Stingmon and Aquillamon had also instantly regressed back to their rookie forms and their human partners had been knocked to the ground as well.

"I think that will be all for now." DarkKnightmon decided. "But though Nene and I will be sparing your lives, a penance still must be paid for your defeat."

"What… what do you intend to do to us?" Norn asked as she managed to get back up.

"Don't worry. It's not really a punishment." Nene assured them. "We're just going to send all of you to my kingdom."

"Your kingdom?" Kari repeated.

"That's right." Nene confirmed as she raised her digivice in the air. "You're all coming with us to the Twilight Empire."

Suddenly the screen of Nene's digivice lit up and began to blink faster and faster. Seconds later the entire area was enveloped in a blinding flash of white light. When the light faded, Nene and DarkKnightmon had vanished. It took a few moments for Norn and the others to notice the sudden change in the landscape. The field they had been in had been transformed into a barren wasteland. They were still by a lake, but there was no longer any grass and the tree that Norn had earlier been reading under had lost all of its leaves. The sky above had become covered in grey clouds that cast everything in a dull twilight.

"Where are we?" Patamon wondered as he looked around. "Are we still in the Digital World?"

"It looks that way." Gatomon answered.

"This sky… it's almost as bad as the sky at the Dark Ocean." Kari observed.

"Try not to think about it." T.K. told her as he put an arm around her. "I think we should get out of here and tell the others about what just happened."

"Uh, guys? I think we have a problem." Yolei told the others as she pointed at the tree.

It took T.K. and the others a moment to realize what Yolei was talking about. The computer screen that had originally been embedded in the tree was gone.

"The digiport's gone!" an alarmed Ken observed. "There's no way to get back home!"

"So we're stuck here?" Kari asked.

"Nene said that she and DarkKnightmon were taking us to their kingdom." Ken recalled. "I don't know exactly where we are, but I don't think we're in the normal Digital World anymore."

* * *

Nene entered the throne room of a castle made of grey stone with DarkKnightmon following a step behind her. The evil knight had since separated from Titamon and returned to his original form. Nene's appearance had changed as well in regards to her outfit. She had on a pair of thick golden-yellow sunglasses with purple lenses, along with a short-sleeved lavender shirt with a wide white section down the center and small ovular grey patches on the sides, and a short lavender skirt that ended just above the knee. Around her waist was a dark-grey belt with a round golden-yellow buckle. A pair of black military boots had replaced the brown-haired girl's original cowboy boots, and covering her hands were black gloves with thick metal rings around the wrists. Attached to Nene's outfit by a pair of gold shoulder pads was a lavender cape with yellow trim that was split down the middle to look like a pair of insect wings.

DarkKnightmon had previously given Nene the outfit to wear while they were in the barren wasteland kingdom he had created. He had told Nene that the costume was based on one that was worn by a tyrannical human who once tried to conquer the Digital World who called himself the Digimon Emperor. Nene didn't really mind wearing the outfit. She was willing to do any little thing that would help her get what she truly wanted. The costumed Nene walked over to the large window of the throne room overlooking her little Twilight Empire. The view showed a desolate mountain range with several Digimon toiling away on the ground.

"You did well today, my empress." DarkKnightmon praised as he stepped up next to her. "Now that Yggdrasill is here, things will start falling into place."

"How does bringing Norn here going to help get what I'm after?" Nene asked.

"I would like to know that as well." A voice interrupted. "Why didn't you kill that girl and her wretched parents when you had the chance?"

Standing in the doorway of the throne room was a human-looking Digimon that resembled a vampire. He had chalk white skin and long blonde hair. The top half of his face was covered by a unique red mask with ends shaped like batwings. His outfit consisted of a black tuxedo with a red cummerbund. Across his torso he had on a red sash with gold trim, and on his hands he wore white gloves. Hanging from his neck by a gold chain was a large golden medallion with a ruby gem in the center. On his back was a blood-red cape with a high collar.

"Ah. CountMyotismon." DarkKnightmon responded. "I take it you were watching that little skirmish."

"From the beginning." The vampire confirmed as he walked into the room with a scowl on his face. "You had them right where you wanted them and you didn't finish them off! Why?"

"And where would the fun be in that?" DarkKnightmon asked. "I thought you were someone who could appreciate toying with their opponents before finishing them off. Besides, I've found a way to fit Yggdrasill and those human parents of hers into my little scheme. In any case, they're now trapped in our little twilight world. We can get at them whenever we please."

"Well… I suppose this would give me the pleasure of finishing them with my own hands." CountMyotismon admitted. He then noticed Nene and chuckled. "And who is this girl?"

"This is Nene." The dark knight answered. "She's going to play a crucial role in my plan."

"If you two don't need me for anything, I'm going to my room." Nene decided.

"Why of course, my empress. You must be tired after our battle." DarkKnightmon agreed. "I'll send for you if I need anything."

Nene silently walked out of the throne room. CountMyotismon kept a close eye on her as she left.

"She certainly doesn't seem to possess the ruthlessness and cruelty that the old Digimon Emperor had." CountMyotismon remarked.

"She is merely a figurehead." DarkKnightmon admitted. "My brother suggested that I use her that way, and since the idea amused me I decided to go along with it."

"I'm sure that young Ken will appreciate that girl's outfit for its nostalgia." CountMyotismon replied as he stepped up to the window. "So, when are we going to go after little Norn?"

"We'll give time for Yggdrasill and her forces to regroup and become familiar with their surroundings." DarkKnightmon answered. "Once they make a move, we will hunt them down and crush them."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Nene's Digimon Empress costume is something of a throwback to the original concept of this story. Before, I had the idea of picking up where Ken left off and trying to take over the Digital World with control spires and dark rings. Of course in that story, Nene still would've been a figurehead for DarkKnightmon. In any case, there were some technical reasons why that version of the story wasn't going to work, so I decided to do this version instead. I still really liked the idea of Nene dressing up as the Digimon Emperor, so I salvaged that little detail for this story.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	3. Kingdom of the Twilight World

**Author's Note:** I finally got around to seeing the first four episodes of Digimon Adventure Tri the other night last week. I like what that series has done so far, but it's pretty much turned this little fan fiction series of mine into an AU. Of course how the heck was I supposed to know that they were eventually going to do their own sequel? Anyway, I've since renamed this series the Digimon Radiance Mythos. In the end it may not be good as Adventure Tri in the long run, but hopefully it'll be an enjoyable ride.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

* * *

Chapter 3: Kingdom of the Twilight World

T.K. and the others had spent several minutes by the lake trying to find another Digiport that could take them home. When it became clear that there was no other exit to be found, the group decided to head off into the wasteland to hopefully find another way home. The physical similarities between the Digital World and the realm the group had become trapped in seemed to end with the lake, as in the near distance they had quickly spotted a small craggy mountain range that was colored a sandy brown. The lost picnickers had decided to head for those mountains to see if they hid some exit. It did not take the eleven long to reach those mountains, and they managed to find a path that would take them smoothly up the side.

After several more minutes of walking, the group reached the top and was able to get a good view of what laid on the other side of the mountain they had just scaled. Below them was a vast desolate valley with nothing but a few dead leafless trees scattered around it, and on the other side of that valley was another group of craggy mountains. On the top of the mountain directly across from the one they stood on was a large castle made of black stone. The towers had conical roofs covered in gold-colored tile, and flying atop the center tower was a black flag showing a white symbol that resembled a skull with curled demonic horns.

"That castle over there must be Nene and DarkKnightmon's hideout." T.K. assumed.

"It's probably the only place that might lead to a way home." Ken added. "We should probably head there as soon as we can."

"Can we take a break first though?" Yolei requested. "We've been walking for hours and my feet are killing me. I did not bring the right shoes for this."

"That's probably a good idea." T.K. agreed. "We could probably all use a rest."

Kari glanced and noticed the sad expression on Norn's face. "What's wrong Norn?"

"I… I feel like this is my fault." Norn answered. "If I hadn't brought Nene to our picnic, she and DarkKnightmon wouldn't have attacked us and brought us here."

Kari kneeled down and put a hand on her shoulder. "Sweetie, you shouldn't blame yourself for this. You had no idea that Nene was going to do."

"That's right. There's no way you could've known a girl like that was in league with such a powerful evil Digimon." Gatomon added. "None of us saw it coming either."

"Maybe, but… I just can't understand why Nene would do all this." Norn told them. "I really thought she and I had become friends."

"If you ask me Norn, you're better off without her." Agu told her. "That Nene girl was obviously bad news from the start."

"It is kinda weird how a girl like that would be working with a Digimon like DarkKnightmon though." Gao pointed out. "Still, Agu's probably right. Nene's probably just a bad kid."

"It's not that simple, you two." Ken told them. "DarkKnightmon is probably manipulating Nene somehow. We just need to figure out the reason why she's working with him, and what DarkKnightmon wants to use her for. All our answers are probably at that castle."

"We'll get there as soon as we're able to." T.K. told him. "When we do, we get our answers even if we have to beat them out of DarkKnightmon to do it."

* * *

DarkKnightmon stood at the large window of the castle's throne room looking out over the wasteland. Everything in his little kingdom was running smoothly. Norn and the other Digidestined that he and Nene had trapped had yet to make a move, but the wicked knight knew that it was only a matter of time. At that moment, another Digimon entered the throne room. The creature was a living brown skeleton with red glowing eyes and a pair of tattered black bat-like wings on his back. Covering the top half of the creature's skull was a bleak mask with bat wing-like horns attached to the sides and a red bat-shaped symbol on the forehead. He had purple and grey armored gloves covering his hands, and in his right hand he held a long wooden staff with a yellow orb fitted into the top.

DarkKnightmon glanced back and noticed the Digimon. "What is it, SkullSatamon?"

"My lord. I'm pleased to inform you that the workers think they've almost reached the seal." SkullSatamon reported. "They should reach it by tomorrow evening at the latest."

"Good!" DarkKnightmon replied as he turned fully around. "At long last I will achieve my ultimate goal."

"There is more news I've yet to report." SkullSatamon continued. "I'm afraid that a small group of workers managed to escape this morning. SkullMeramon and a squad of Tankmon have already been sent to apprehend them."

"It matters not." DarkKnightmon told him as he turned back to the window. "If we loose a few workers here or there, the empress and I can always replace them. The Digital World is filled with little villages that we can exploit. Now if there is nothing further, I wish to be alone at the moment."

"Yes, my lord." SkullSatamon replied, and with that he left the room.

* * *

When the break that T.K. and the others took finally ended they began to make their way through the mountains to the dark castle. As the eleven traveled across a ridge that took them down towards the valley, they heard an explosion that hit the mountain wall and caused a few small rocks and boulder's to fall behind them. The group looked down and saw two groups of Digimon directly below them. Most of them were bear cubs with blue fur. There were fifteen bear cubs in all, each wearing a black baseball cap and black overalls. There was also a tan lion-like creature with a brown mane and two tails tipped with tufts of yellow fur. Each of the lion's ears had a pair of large silver hoop earrings.

"What kind of Digimon are those?" T.K. asked.

"The little ones are called Bearmon." Patamon answered. "The big cat with them is called Liamon. It's a lion Digimon like Leomon who likes to protect weak Digimon."

"It looks like they're in real trouble." Yolei observed.

Another group of Digimon was advancing on Liamon and the Bearmon. Most of them were creatures with a humanoid top half that had machine guns for hands and long green cannon barrels for noses. The tops of their heads were covered in the same green metal like a helmet, and they had long brown hair spilling out from underneath. Their torsos were painted with camouflage colors, and the bottom halves of their bodies had tank treads instead of legs. T.K. and the others had quickly deduced that it was these Digimon that had caused the earlier explosion.

Leading this group of enemy Digimon was a fully humanoid creature with a grey body lit with blue flames. A metal skull-like mask covered his face and he had spiky blue hair growing from his head. Iron chains were wrapped around the creature's muscular torso and arms, and he had on a pair of long black pants with a large orange and yellow flame design on the side of each leg starting from the bottom. Covering his feet was a pair of black boots with a metal skull-shaped plate on each toe.

"Those are Tankmon!" T.K. identified. "And they've got a SkullMeramon leading them!"

"Give up, you rats." SkullMeramon told Liamon and the Bearmon. "There's nowhere else you can go."

"You can take me if you wish, but I won't let you have the young ones!" Liamon declared. "I'll fight to my last breath to protect them!"

"Have it your way." SkullMeramon shrugged. "Let 'em have it, boys!"

"We have to help them!" Norn realized. "Agu! Gao!"

"Leave it to us, Norn!" Gao told her, and with that he and Agu became surrounded by respective columns of blue and orange light.

"Agumon, warp digivolve to… VictoryGreymon!" Agu called out as he changed into the armored dragon warrior.

"Gaomon, warp digivolve to… ZeedGarurumon!" Gao cried out as he transformed into the mechanical wolf.

Before the Tankmon squad could open fire, they and SkullMeramon noticed Agu and Gao's transformation on the ridge. The two fully evolved Digimon looked down at them from above.

"I'll handle those Tankmon." Gao decided. "You take the one in the mask."

"Gladly." Agu agreed.

With that, Gao fired all of the weapons mounted in his body from the ridge. Each of the projectiles flew down and struck each Tankmon, causing them to explode and their bodies to dissolve into particles of data that drifted away into the air. Before SkullMeramon could fully comprehend what had happened, Agu leaped down at him from the ridge. SkullMeramon extended the chains on his arms, causing them to ignite with blue flames. The fire warrior swung them at Agu, but the dragon warrior easily deflected the chains with the blade of his sword before stabbing SkullMeramon through the chest. Agu pulled out his sword, causing SkullMeramon's body to drop to the ground and slowly dissolve into data particles.

"Who's this guy?" one of the Bearmon asked.

"Whoever he is, he's cool!" another one of the Bearmon declared.

Norn got on Gao's back and Gao jumped off the ridge to where Agu and Liamon's group were. Soon after, Ken and Yolei had their two Digimon evolve to transport them and the others down into the valley as well. Once everyone was together, Agu and the others reverted back to their rookie forms.

Liamon walked towards the group and bowed his head. "I thank you for your help. You're Digidestined, aren't you?"

"Yep! That's us." Yolei proudly confirmed.

"How did all of you get here?" Kari asked. "And why were SkullMeramon and those Tankmon after you?"

"These young ones and I come from a small village tucked away in a little valley in the Digital World." Liamon began. "I do not know exactly what this place it, but it seems to be some kind of twisted mirror image of the Digital World as we know it. Anyway, one day we were going about our lives when the village was attacked by the Digimon Empress."

Ken gasped a bit when he heard the name that Liamon used. "Did you say… the Digimon Empress?"

Liamon nodded. "I did not hear her call herself by that name exactly, but her servant called her an empress and she was dressed the same way as that human tyrant who tried to conquer the Digital World many years ago, the one who called himself the Digimon Emperor. I can only assume that the two of them are related."

"Dad, who's this Digimon Emperor that Liamon speaks of?" Norn asked.

T.K. exchanged a look with Kari. "Uh… we'll tell you about that another time, Norn."

"Liamon, you said that this empress had a servant." Patamon spoke. "Was this servant called DarkKnightmon?"

"That he was." The lion confirmed. "I can see you are all familiar with him. Anyway, as the village's protector I tried to fight this DarkKnightmon and lost. The next thing I knew, everyone in our village had been transported to this place. The empress then forced us to work in mines that she's had dug beneath these mountains. It seems that this Digimon Empress and her knight have been doing this to other villages for the past two years."

"So what's this mine that the empress has you digging even for?" Gatomon asked.

"I don't know." Liamon answered. "But the first chance I got, I managed to escape with these young ones. I had hoped that we'd be able to find a way home from here, but so far all we've found is more danger."

"I'm sorry to say that we're kind of in the same boat as all of you are." T.K. informed the lion. "Of course we weren't forced to work in any mine. But right now it looks like the only way for any of us to get out of here is to defeat the Digimon Empress and DarkKnightmon. That's what we were on our way to do before we saw you being attacked."

"I would join you in this quest, but I have to think of these young ones first." Liamon told them.

"It's okay. You and the Bearmon just find a safe place to hide until all this is over." Gatomon told them. There's actually a lake on the other side of the mountain we just came from that seems fairly safe."

"We thank you for your help." Liamon replied. "I wish you the best of luck, Digidestined."

With that, Liamon began to lead the Bearmon away towards the other mountain. As soon as they were far enough away, Ken slumped against the mountain wall.

"Ken, you okay?" Wormmon asked.

"I'm fine." Ken assured him. "It's just… the Digimon Empress? Did Nene come up with that persona on her own, or…?"

"Is it just me, or are we missing something?" Agu asked.

"I think it has something to do with that Digimon Emperor stuff Liamon brought up." Gao assumed. "I wonder who that guy was?"

"Mr. Ken? You know something about all this, don't you?" Norn asked.

"Norn, we'll talk about this later." Kari told her.

"It's okay, Kari." Ken interrupted. "Your parents are right, Norn. It is a long story. What I can tell you right now is that when I was a lot younger I ended up doing some things that… well, things I wasn't proud of. And now it looks like that Nene is doing the same kind of things that I was doing."

"Wait! Are you saying that you and Nene are alike?" Agu asked.

"That's not what Ken's saying at all." Yolei told him.

"Actually, maybe we are." Ken responded. "Or maybe she wants to be like how I was for some reason. That's all the more reason for us to get to that castle. Maybe if I can talk some sense into Nene, we can put an end to all this."

"I'd kinda like to know what this mine Liamon and the others were forced to work in is for." Patamon interjected.

"It can't be good, whatever it's for." Gatomon assumed. "We need to get to that castle as soon as we can."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Just FYI to anyone who might be reading, it might be a few days before I get the next chapter up. Among other things, I'm going to try and spend part of the week wrapping up this Sword Art Online fanfic I started back in December. I will get back to this story as soon as I can though, so stay tuned.

Please review and let me know what you think.


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